Deadland

Chapter 28- Sisters

We all run into the gate, excited that we have a safe space where we don't have to look over our shoulder. 

Alyssa giggles and high-fives Carl, running off with him. 

Damien approaches me as we enter the fenced-in area. "So?" 

I scoff, "I think I got two words out." He sighs and shakes his head, "I don't know-" "Don't worry about it, alright? Her and I are both still hurting, she's healing in a different way." I sigh and look up at the sky, "I'm gonna try again tonight." Damien nods, "Good idea. She still talks to me as much as she used to but she hasn't said anything about why she won't even be near you." 

"I'll figure it out." I look at him, "I always do." 

Damien looks around the area, "WOO!" He whoops, jumping. "Fuck yeah!" He smiles a gummy smile, "We can smoke so much weed." I smirk, "Hell yeah we can." Him and I high-five, he holds my hand and shakes it slightly as he laughs in excitement. 

A few hours later, the sun has fully set and we're all sitting around the crackling fire, eating some forbidden meat. 

Alyssa is laughing and talking with Beth and Carl, per usual. Damien looks at me and cocks his head towards her, raising an eyebrow. 

"No." I mouth silently. "She's having fun." "Fuck that." He mouths. He pulls out a nugget of weed and mouths, "This is your reward." I purse my lips and sigh, "Fuck you." I say silently. 

I stand up and make my way over to Alyssa, my heart pounding slightly.

Why am I nervous? I'm literally twenty-seven and she's twelve.

Carl nods in my direction and Alyssa turns and looks at me, rolling her eyes.

I clench my jaw and sigh, at this point I'm not even sad- I'm just pissed off.

"Can I talk to you?" "No." I clench my jaw harder and straighten up. "I'm going to talk to you, so it can either be here where everyone can hear us or somewhere private." 

She inhales deeply, handing Carl her food. "Fine, but not because you told me to." "Because god forbid you do something I say." I respond, holding my hands up in fake surrender. 

I nod my head to the left of us and her and I walk over there in silence. I feel like there's a rope of tension tying us together, the air feels thick, and I'm not used to it being this tense between us. 

We get about thirty feet away before she quickly turns to me and says, "What." 

The sourness in her voice practically breaks my heart. 

"I'm going to try to be calm about this because I know it won't help if I get mad but what the fuck is your problem? You and I have said like four sentences to each other in like eight months! Dad died and almost immediately you begin giving me the cold shoulder." Alyssa throws her arms up, "I don't know! You tell me! Why on Earth would I not want to talk to you?" 

"Why would I be asking you if I knew?!" Alyssa rolls her eyes and scoffs. I sigh and put my hands on her shoulders, "What is going on." I look her in the eyes, her brown eyes twinkling as she looks at me. "Please." 

Her lip quivers as she sees the desperateness in my eyes to get my sister back. 

"I don't know." Her voice cracks so bad that her words come out as a mere whisper. "What do you mean?" 

"I don't know how to be around you after his death! You look exactly like him, you act like him, you sound like him, your stubborn like him, everything you do is exactly like him and it hurts. It hurts so bad whenever I'm around you because all I can think about is him and what we don't have anymore!" Tears stream down her face as she speaks. "It's so hard not talking to you because you're my best friend but I figured if I stopped talking to you, you'd stop talking to me and I wouldn't get those...memories of him back. The good ones, the memories of us." She begins to sob slightly but contains her composure enough to hear me speak.